Transmission



Oct. 31 1939.

H. W. SIMPSON TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 24. 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A INVENTOR. /%zmza 5127p zfim Oct. 31, 1939. H. w. SIMPSON 2,177,951

TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 24, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INYENTOR. BY 16/1/474 Z ljmpso/z .1 Q 9M ATTORNEYS Oct. 31, 1939. "w s so 2,177,951

TRANSMISSION Fil ed Feb. 24, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet s ATTORNEYS H. w. SIMPSON TRANSMISSION Fil'ed Feb. 24, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. BY f/omzrd fliW/idfi ATTORNEY? Patented Oct. 31, 1939,

UNITED STATES PATENT oar-lea TRANSMISSION Howard W. Simpson, Dearborn, Mich, sssi'gnor to Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Micla, a corporation of Delaware Application February 24, 1936, Serial No- 65,204 1 10 Claims. (01. 74-328) This invention relates to a transmission and more particularly to a transmission having a built in overdrive.

Itis an object of this invention to produce a transmission having a built in overdrive which is compact and in which the transmission housing is no larger than that heretofore required for the conventionalthree speed forward ,transmission now being used on this year's automobile models.

It is an object of this invention to produce a transmission having an overdrive which can be used the greater part of the time even for city driving and in which the get away or acceleration is not sacrificed at any time and in which the overdrive gears are never subjected to. the heavy low speed torque. This object has been achieved by so constructing the overdrive that the low and reversed gears are not affected by the overdrive.

This invention also contemplates a transmission having a built in overdrive of the planetary gear type in which the wear and tearon the planetary overdrive gears isreduced to a minimum. This has planetary overdrive gears so thatthey do not spin idly when in direct drive but revolve as a whole with the main transmission shaft. I

It is also an object of this invention to cut down the oil churning and tooth frictionon the reverse idler gears which occurs in the conventional transmission when driving at high speeds.

This wear and tear on-the reverse idler has been eliminated by so arranging the reverse idler that it is out of mesh at all times exceptwhen the a gear shift lever is shifted to reversed position.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through the transmission having a built in overdrive of the planetary gear type.

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of- Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the resilient braking arrangement for connecting the sun gear to the stationary housing.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing the sun and' planetary gears.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view with the gear shift 7 lever-and plate removed showing the gear shiftreverse gears.

Figs. 9 and 10 are details of the low and reverse ing forks. Fig. 6 is a section along the line H of Fig. 5. Fig. '7 is a section along the line 1 1 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a section showing in detail the low and gear.

been achieved by arranging the Referring more particularly to the drawings there is showna transmission housing I which is-compact and the, same size as that which now houses the 1936 model Ford transmission havingthe conventional three speeds forward and one in reverse. The driving shaft 2 is driven by the engine and is rotatably mounted in the transmission housing by the usual ball bearing race .3. The driving shaft is homogeneously formed with a gear 4 which is meshed with and drives the gear 5. .This gear 5 is formed homogeneously with the hollowshaft 8 and gear I. The hollow shaft 6 is supported by the stationaryshaft 8 which is fixed at each end to thetransmission housing. The hollow shaft 6 is supported upon the fixed shaft 8 by needle roller bearings 8 and is provided. at each end with-thrust washers l2. A

pinion is 'helically splined on the shaft 6 so that it can be shifted axially of the shaft 6 for low and reverse ,speeds. This low speed pinion is provided with a circumferential groove for receiving the shifter fork .10. This groove'divides the low speed pinion into two pinions l8 and II and may be termed a double pinion which in reality serve the purpose of a single pinion.

When the double pinion III, II- is shifted to the right (Fig. 1) the pinion ll meshes with the reverse and low speed gear l3 which is integral with the driven shaft [4 and thus low speed drive is obtained. The driven shaft I4 is rotatably supported in the ball bearing race I! mounted in the end plate I05 of the housing I. When the double pinion l8,- II is shifted to the left (Fig. 1) pinion l8 meshes with the idler gear l6 (Figs. 1 and 8) which turns the idler gear H. The

-idler gears l8 and II are splined on a common 16 is shiftable support shaft l8 (Fig.8) and gear th along the shaft it. 'As explained below,

. shiftingof the double pinion ll, II to the left I. The shaft [8 has rotatably mounted thereon the sleeve "ll which is homogeneously formed with the planet gear support spider II. The intermediate gear 23 is rotatably mounted upon the sleeve 2| and held in position by the thrust washers 24 and a bronze or other suitable bearing. A synchro-mesh clutch is provided for connecting the intermediate gear 23 and driving gear 4 to the sleeve 2 I. This synchronizing clutch comprises a clutch sleeve 25 splined upon a hub I25 which in turn is splined upon the sleeve 2|. The hub I25 is provided with conical clutch facings I30. A detent I26 holds the hub yieldably in center position and in this position the clutch facings I30 have a small clearance with the cooperating conical clutch surfaces I3I, I32 respectively homogeneously formed with the driving gear 4 and intermediate gear 23. me sleeve 25 is provided with internal gear teeth 25 arranged to mesh with the small teeth 21 on the gear 4. When the sleeve 25 is moved to the left, Fig. 1, clutch facings I30 and I 3| engage thereby synchronizing hub I25 and sleeve 25 with gear 4 and upon further movement of the sleeve 25 to the left the teeth 26 mesh with the teeth21 on the gear 4. This directly connects the driving shaft 2 and sleeve 2| which, as explained below, gives conventional high speed. when the sleeve 25 is shifted to the right the clutch facing I33 engages the conical face I32 of the intermediate gear to synchronize the sleeve 25 and the intermediate gear and upon further movement to the right the internal gear teeth 26 mesh with the small gear teeth 20 on the intermediate gear 23 thus connecting gear 23 to sleeve 2|. Thus, as explained below, giving a speed which is intermediate of low and direct speeds.

Inasmuch as it is one of the objects of this invention to produce a transmission having a built in overdrive which is as compact as the conventional transmission having three speeds forward and one in reverse, such as the transmission now used on the 1936 model Ford, it is proposed to locate the overdrive mechanism between the low speed and intermediate gears. By thus 10- cating the overdrive mechanism the transmission housing remains the same size as that-now used with the 1936 model Ford. To this aid a sun gear 29 having gear teeth 3| is :Iournaled upon the sleeve 2|.

A synchro-mesh clutch is also used either for connecting the sun gear to the planet gear spider or for resiliently connecting the sun gear to the gear housing. This synchronizing clutch device is inserted between plate 33 and the stationary gear 40. This synchronizing clutch device is identical with that described above for connecting the intermediate gear to the shaft 2| and the shaft 2| to the driving gear 4. This synchronising clutch comprises a hub 3| helically splined on thesun gear 29, a sleeve 33 having internal teeth 34 which is splined on hub 3| and may be shifted to the right or left of center. The sleeve 33 is held yieldably in center position by the plunger detent 32. When the sleeve 33 is shifted to the right, internal gear teeth 34 engage the small gear teeth 35 on the plate 33, thus cmnectlng the sun gear and planetary gears so that they move together and no rotation of the planet gears above the sun gear can take place and thus the driving torque coming through sleeve 2| is directly transmitted to the driven gear I3 and driven shaft I4.

The spider 22 has therein four pins 31 upon the outer ends of which is fixed the plate 33. A

planet gear '33 is mounted on each of the pins 31 by tlze plate 36 and spider 22. Buitabie needle roller bearings are mounted between the mm 33 ,34 and the sleeve 33 of the power through the planetary gears.

and the planet gears 38. If the sleeve 33 is shifted to the left (Fig. 1), internal teeth 34 mesh with the small clutch teeth 40 which, as explained below, are always stationary. This causes the driving torque to be transmitted from the driving shaft 2 to the driven shaft I4 through the planetary gear overdrive. When the teeth are meshed with the small teeth 43, the hub 3| and consequently sun gear 23 to which the hub is splined, is held stationary. The driving torque is transmitted by the sleeve 2| through the flange 22, pins 31, planet gears 33, and then to the driven gear I3 and driven shaft I 4. Since the sun gear 29 is held stationary the planet gears 38 revolve about the sun gear 33 and since the planet gears 38 are meshed with the internal teeth 4| of the gear I3 they drive the driven gear I3 at a speed about 38% faster than the speed of sleeve 2|. However, since the low and reverse speeds transmit power directly from the driving shaft 2 to the gear I3 and driven shaft I4 without the power passing through the planetary gears, it follows that the planetary gearing does not modify low and reverse speeds but only direct and intermediate speed.

Since it is desirable to shift from conventional into overdrive smoothly and without shock, to this end a novel arrangement is provided for stopping the rotation of the sun gear and holding the same stationary to permit transmission This braking arrangement for the sun gear comprises a plate 42 having the clutch teeth 40. The plate 42 is fastened to the transmission housing through the medium of a shock absorber comprising a plurality of helical coil springs 43 mounted in circumferentially spaced openings 44 in the plate 42. The coil springs 43 are held in place by two retaining plates 45 and 46 which are riveted together by circumferentially spaced rivets 41. The rivets of the outer periphery of the plate 42 as shown in Fig. 2 and are provided with spacer washers 43 positioned between the plates 45 and 46. The spacer plates 45 and 46 in turn are supported by the tapered lugs 49 and 50 which are fixed to the transmission housing I. The tapered ends of the lugs, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, fit between the plates 45 and 46 and directly engage the top and bottom spacers 48. When the sleeve 33 is shifted to the left, Fig. 1, into engagement with the teeth 43 of the plate 42 the coil springs 43 cushion the initial engagement and absorb the shock which would otherwise be transmitted to the planetary gearing,

The sleeve 25 is shifted by a shifting fork II and the sleeve 33 is shifted by a lever 52. The lever 52 preferably is controlled 'by a separate button or lever mounted on or under the instrument board of the car and connected to the lever 52 by a flexible cable control or wire. The low, reverse, intermediate, and direct or high drives are selected by a hand lever 53 having the overdrive lever independent. The shifts made by the lever 53 are not changed from that of a standard or conventional transmission. Even though the transmision is shifted to overdrive acceleration from a standstill is not sacrificed became the same low gear ratio is obtained resardless of whether the overdrive lever is in "overdrive" or direct.

The gear shifting arrangement is as follows: Shifter forks 5| and 63 are riveted to shafts 52 and I respectively. The forks II and 63 are 4'! are positioned outside ball 65 at the bottom of the gear shift lever 53 engages fork 60 in notch 84 and a cylindrical lug 68 on the side of lever 53 engages the fork in notch 83. The lower end of member 80 is fixed in the lower end of fork 61 which slides back and forth on shaft 68. The mm 51 engages idler gear I! which thus moves it back and forth with fork 61. The lower end of fork 61 is pivotally connected with one end of the lever 88, the other end of the lever 59 being in the form of a forkwhich engages the low gear pinion I0, II. The lever 89 is pivotally mounted to swing about a vertical axis intermediate its ends about the vertically positioned pin H which is fixed to the housing I. Thus the shifter fork 5| controls sleeve 25 which upon being moved to the left (Fig. 1) connects the driving shaft -2 with the driven shaft I4 for a direct drive and when the sleeve 25 is shifted to the right the intermediate gear 23 is connected with the sleeve 2| thus permitting the drive to come from driving. shaft 2,

gear I through gears 5 and 1 to intermediate gear.

23 thence to sleeve 2| and driven shaft I4.

The overdrive control levers 52 are fixed on a single shaft 80 journaled inthe transmission housing I. The outer end of the shaft 80 has fixed thereto a lever 8I which is attached to the shaft button or lever on the instrument panelby a rod or wire. Levers 52 each have a small shift block 82 at their lower end which are located in the groove of the sleeve 33. As explained above, when the sleeve 33 is shifted to the right (Fig. 1) the overdrive is cut out and the sun and planetary gears are locked together and thereforev rotate as a unit with the sleeve 2!, driven gear I3 and driven shaft I8. At this time the conventional high or direct drive and the intermediate drive are not modified. However, when the sleeve 33 is shifted to the left (Fig. 1) the sun gear is clutched to'the fixed plate 42 thus hold-.

' gear stationary permitting the planet ing the sun gears to revolve about the sun gear and increase the speed of the driven gear I3 and driven shaft Il about 30% thus modifying the high or direct and intermediate drives.

The end of the transmission housing I is provided with a removable endplate I05 which is secured by screws I06 tothe housing. The end plate is provided with an opening in which is mounted ball race l5 for driven shaft I4. The ball race I5 is retained in place by the end closure plate 90 which is secured by screws 9| to plate I05. By removing the end plate I05 and plate 90 all of the gears can be assembled through the end of the housing instead of through the top hole of the housing. 337 being able to assemble the gears through the end of the housing in- 1 stead of through the hole-in the top of the housing it permits one to mount the shifter fork support shafts, such as 6| and 52, within the housing I g and thus makes a more compact assembly and requires but a small opening in the top of the housing I.

The low and reverse gear I3 is shown in detail in-Fig. 10. The gear I3 has the direction of the helix angles or pitch of the internal helical teeth 92 the opposite from thatof theexternal helical teeth 83. As shown, the internal teeth are right handed helical internal teeth and the external teeth are left handed helical teeth.- Thus, the teeth reinforce each other andgthe rimof the gear becauseof the opposite directions of their helix angles which prevents warping of the gear in heat treatment. Further, the cutting of the internal gear teeth on the inside of the driven gear teeth I3 makes the overdrive assembly more simple and compact.

A modified shifter arrangement is shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. In this form a rod I00 is' attached to the intermediate speed shifter fork' 5I. This rod is arranged to engagea lug IOI- extending out on the overdrive control lever 52. The rod I00 is such that whenever the intermediate speed shifter fork 5| is shifted to intermediatespeed the rod I00 pushes the overdrive lever 52 to the right (Fig. 1) in a direct drive when second speed is engaged. The length of the rod I00 is such that whenever the shift is from direct to high speed or neutral the overdrive control lever 52 will be shifted to neutral position. This modified arrangement throws the overdrive out whenever the driver shifts from low to intermediate speeds. If the transmission is an overdrive and the driver desires .to shift into intermediate and cut out the overdrive, he need only perform one operation, namely, shift from low to intermediate which through the rod I00 cuts out the overdrive. If one desires to shift from highto neutral, the overdrive is also shifted to neutral and it is then necessary to shift the overdrive as well as the conventional transmission out of neutral to drive thecar.

In a view looking in a direction from the driven shaft I8 toward the driving shaft 2, as shown in'Flgs. 2 and 7,.it will be noted that the reverse idler gears I6 and I! are mounted on the right of the low speed pinions I0, I I. The hollow idler reverse gear shaft is supported on the fixed shaft I I8 with suitable needle roller bearings between the hollow shaft I8 and fixed shaft II8. When the transmission is in reverse gear the driving torque is transmitted from thepinion I0 tothe idler I8 and then through reverse idler gear H to the driven gear I3. Thus the point at which reverse gear I0 meshes with idler gear I5, as well as the point at which idler gear I'I meshes with reverse gear I3, are both on the same side or to the left of the shaft I I8. Consequently the thrust on the shaft II8 caused by the transmission of the torque from gear I0 to gear- I8 and the thrust caused by the transmission of the torque from gear H to gear I3 isgenerally in the same direction or towards the right as viewed in Fig. 2. This arrangement of the a driven gear fixed to the driven shaft, a main shaft and counter-shaft. a gear mounted on the shaftand freely rotatable thereon, a plurality of gears mounted on the counter-shaft to rotate therewith, a clutch optionally engageable for connecting the freely rotatable gear to the main shaft to rotate therewith and for connecting the main shaft directly to the drivingshaft, a planetary gear transmission positioned between the driving and driven gears and selectively operable to modify the driving ratios between the 'driving and driven shafts when the drive is direct from the driving shaft to the main shaft and when the drive through the said freely rotatable gear to the main shaft, one of said gears on the counter-shaft being shiftable into meahdriving shaft and 9. ,driven shaft, a selective gear transmission comprising a driving gear fixed to the driving shaft,

plurality of gears between the driving and driven l said shafts to the driven the planetary gear train.

so. eluding a driving gear fixed to the driving shaft,

gears some of which are shiftable to effect different driving ratios including a direct drive between the driving and driven shafts, a shaft in axial alignment with the driving and driven shafts for supporting some of the gears, some of the said gears being mounted on said shaft, and a counter-shaft for supporting the other of said gears between the driving and driven gears, a planetary gear transmission mounted on one of the said shafts between the driving and driven gears for modifying the driving ratio when the driving torque is transmitted through any one of the gears mounted on the same shaft as the planetary gear train and ineffective to modify the driving ratio when the driving torque is transmitted from the driving shaft to the gears on the other shaft and then to the driven gear independently of the gearson the shaft on which the planetary gear train is mounted.

3. In combination with a driving shaft and a driven shaft, a selective slid ng gear transmission including a driving gear fixed on the driving shaft, a driven gear fixed on the driven shaft, a pair of shafts between the driving and driven gears, a plurality of gears carried by each of the said shafts, some of said gears being shiftable to effect different driving ratios between thedriving and driven shafts, a. planetary gear train mounted on one of said shafts for modifying the driving ratio whenever the driving torque is transmitted from the driving shaft through the said shaft on which the planetary gear train is mounted, the driving torque being transmitted from the driving shaft through the gears carried by the other of gear independently of 4. The combination with a driving shaft and a driven shaft, a selective gear transmission ina driven gear fixed to the drivenshaft, the said driven gear comprising a single gear having external and internal gear teeth, a shaft and counter-shaft between the driving and driven gears for transmitting the driving torque fromthe driving gear to the driven gear, a plurality of gears carried by each of said shafts, some of the gears being shiftable to obtain different driving ratios between the driving and driven gears, a planetary gear train mounted on one of said shafts, and

, a gear on the other shaft adapted for engagement with the external teeth of the driven gear, the planet gears of the said planetary gearv train being meshed with the internal gear of the driven gear whereby the planetary gear train modifies the driving ratio between the driving and driven shafts whenever the driving torque is transmitted through the planetary gear train supporting shaft to the driven shaft and the driving torque can be transmitted from the driving gear'through the gears on the other shaft independently of the planetary gear train.

5. In combination with a driving shaft and'a driven shaft, a selective sliding gear transmission to vthe driven gear vdiate gear, a clutch for selectively connecting the driving shaft directly to the first mentioned shaft or to the intermediate gear, a plurality of gears mounted on the counter-shaft including a pair of gears fixed on the said counter-shaft and meshed respectively with the driving gear and the intermediate gear and a shiftable gear arranged to be shifted along the counter-shaft into meshing relation with the external teeth of the driven gear, a planetary gear train mounted on the first mentioned shaft between the driven gear and the intermediate gear including a plurality of planet gears in meshing engagement with the internal gear teeth of the driven gear, and a clutch fixed to the transmission housing optionally engageable with the sun gear for holding the same stationary whereby the driving ratio in intermediate and direct drives is modified by the planetary gear train and the low drive is transmitted to the driven gear independently of the planetary gear train.

6. In'combination with a driving shaft and a driven shaft, a selective sliding gear transmission including a driving gear fixed on the end of the driving shaft and a driven gear fixed on the driven shaft, the said driven gear having external and internal gear teeth, an intermediate gear positioned between the driven gear and the driving shaft, a planetary gear train comprising a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears in meshing relation with the internal teeth of the driven gear and with the sun gear, and a spider for supporting the planet gears, the aid spider including a gear whereby the two driven gears rotate'as a unit. I

8. In a selective gear transmission for transmitting the driving torque from a driving shaft to a driven shaft including a driven gear mounted on the driven shaft, a counter-shaft, a low speed pinion splined on the counter-shaft, a reverse idler shaft, a pair of reverse idler pinions splined on the reverse idler shaft, the said low speed pinion on the counter-shaft being shiftable into meshing engagement with the driven gear to obtain low speed driving ratio, one of the reverse idler pinions being shiftable into driving relation with the said driven gear, and means for simultaneously shifting the pinion on the countershaft intomeshing engagement with one of the reverse idler gears; and the other reverse idler gear into meshing engagement with the driven gear.

9. In a selective gear transmission, a low speed speed driving pinion shiftable in a predetermined 1 direction into mesh with the low speed forward and reverse driven gear to effect low speed forpinion shiftable in the same predetermined direction into mesh with the same low speed forward and reverse driven gear to effect reverse driving of the driven gear, and means interconnecting the low speed driving pinion and the reverse idler pinion whereby when the low speed driving pinion is shifted in said predetermined direction the reverse idler pinion is shifted in the opposite direction and when the reverse idler pinion is shifted in said predetermined direction the low speed driving pinion is shifted in the opposite direction. a

- therewith. and rotatably said sleeve 10. Ina transmission, housing, axially aligned driving and driven shafts therein, a countershaft journaled for rotation iiin said housing and driven from said driving shaft, a sleeve journaled on said driven shaft, epicyd'iic gear means connecting said sleeve with said driven shaft, a gear member fixed to said couritershaft, a companion gear member meshing mounted on said sleeve, and clutch means movable in one direction on said sleeve so as to transmit the drive thereto through said gear means and movable in the other direction on said sleeve todirectly connect the latter with said driving shaft.

HOWARD W. SIMPSON.

the combination, offa to connect said companion gear with 

